Philadelphia Phillies infielder Chase Utley made a surprise appearance on “Ellen” earlier this week to meet a 23-year-old woman who is battling a rare form of cancer. Chris Stigall, a morning host on WPHT 1220 AM in Philadelphia, saw this as an opportunity to crack some jokes.
Julie Kramer has been diagnosed with stage 4 synovial sarcoma, a form of cancer that affects roughly two out of every one million people each year. Kramer is a huge Phillies fan and Utley is her favorite player, so Ellen DeGeneres arranged for Utley to come on the show. He offered Kramer tickets to any Phillies game she wants to attend next season and said she is welcome to hang out with the players during batting practice anytime.
Enter Stigall, whose first joke about the meeting between Utley and Kramer wasn’t quite as tasteless as his second.
“You know Chase Utley’s not going to be around to take the cancer patient to the games,” he said on his show Tuesday, per Philly.com’s Rob Tornoe. “It’s a nice invite, but he won’t even be there.”
While it’s ridiculous to mock Utley for such a kind gesture, Stigall was just making a point that the Phillies might be looking to dump the 36-year-old. He should have stopped there.
“Plus, it’s probably terminal what that woman has,” Stigall added. “You think she’s going to live through an entire season?”
People make mistakes. Some of those mistakes cost them their jobs. That particular comment should be enough to cost Stigall his, regardless of how sorry he claims he is.
“I know my heart and intent was something very different than my words, but that doesn’t matter. It is my prayer that Mrs. Kramer was successful in her battle,” he said Wednesday. “And my thoughtless attempt at a joke about our show conveyed a sentiment that came off as much different. And for that, I am sincerely sorry.”
Again, we can understand the Utley comment. That’s more of a shot at Chase than anything. But it takes a very specific kind of piece of garbage to crack a joke about a 23-year-old potentially losing her battle to cancer. This guy is a loser.
H/T Craig Calcaterra
